Contrasting Account Allocation and Online Allocation
Allocating transactions using Online Allocation as part of the Ledger Entry process is very similar to Account Allocations (ACA). Account Allocations is used to allocate transactions after they have been posted.
When you use Online Allocation you match transactions using the Online Allocation form. Whereas, when you use Account Allocations you match transactions using the Account Allocation form.
The main differences when you are using Online Allocation are:
- the unallocated transactions are extracted automatically for the account referenced on the journal line, so the Selection Criteria for Account Allocation form is not required to select the transactions
- the allocations are made on the Online Allocation form instead of the Account Allocation form.
The Online Allocation Form
The most obvious difference between the two functions is that with Online Allocation the current journal transaction you have entered in Ledger Entry is automatically selected for allocation.
These unposted journal transactions appear at the top of the Online Allocation form in the Journal Transactions section. The allocation marker on these transaction is set automatically to To Be Allocated. If you were to use Account Allocations to match these transactions you would have to select these transactions on the Account Allocation form and set the allocation marker manually.
All of the posted, unallocated transactions for the account are also extracted automatically and listed in the Extracted Transactions section at the bottom of the form. These transactions are displayed in order of the Transaction Sequence that you define for the journal type in the Online Allocation tab in Journal Type (JNT).
You must select the matching, posted transactions in the Extracted Transactions section and then set the allocation markers. If the allocations do not balance, the online allocation function checks to see whether discount has been taken and can generate the appropriate discount transactions, if required. It also generates exchange gain or loss adjustments, if necessary.
When you have finished allocating the transactions and they balance, you must select the option, rather than the option you select in Account Allocations (ACA). See 'Posting Allocations'.
This is because the allocations and generated transactions are only posted when the journal is posted using Ledger Entry (LEN). If the journal is not posted for any reason, for example if it is held or cancelled, the allocations are not made.